Two Indian higher education regulatory authorities – one that maintains standards of teaching, research and university examinations and the other that assesses and accredits universities – are in a mess.

While the University Grants Commission (UGC) recently passed a resolution empowering universities to appoint individuals who do not hold doctorate degrees as vice-chancellors of universities, seven National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) officials, including a professor from the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, were arrested this month for allegedly taking huge bribes to grant accreditation to dubious educational institutions.

The political opposition lost no time in attacking the UGC and the government, claiming that the apex body’s draft resolution on appointment of vice-chancellors and college teachers was an attempt to recruit people with doubtful educational provenance and those who adhere to the right-wing ideology to ultimately push “one history, one tradition, one language”.